ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

Oct 7th - 9th

We made our way from Northern to Southern Michigan to see my  first cousin, once removed,  Lon and his wife, Mary Jo.  His mother and my mom were first cousins.  We parked the RV in a park 25 minutes from their home, but we stayed overnight  with them. They had 2 full days of sightseeing planned for us. We had a wonderful time getting to know them better. 

First place they took us was the Gilmore Car Museum.  It covers 90 acres, is in the middle of corn fields and is one of the largest car museums in the U.S.   Each collection was in a different building.  Not long after we got there, the lights went out.  OH NO!  We didn't get  to see it all, but there were several buildings with big enough windows that we saw most of it.

This is the first car, the Motorwagon, delivered to the public on July 3, 1886.   It had one horsepower and went  9 MPH. We have certainly come a long way!

I thought this car was beautiful, a 1938 Mercedes

Notice this car has handles on the front and back of the door, you can open it both ways. It is a 1929 Hudson

This  1958 corvette was designed by women for women.  It has a compartment under the dash for your purse, seat covers for every season, a floor mounted waste basket and matching license plate frame.  This was a concept car, but never actually built.  The color was very unique, Silver Olive.

1939 Packard pulling a 1937 Conestoga, camping trailer.  I think ours is much nicer, not sure I would have gone anyway with this

Wooden tires used during WWII. There was a shortage of rubber.  Didn't go over very well because there was no traction for stopping. Yikes!

This is for all golfers out there.  Notice the compartment behind the door.  It is for golf clubs. There were quite a few cars with this little door.  Never seen a modern car with this feature

Never thought I'd have my hand on a Presidents knee. No Secret Service came to stop me.

I know this was a lot of pictures, but I thought they were so cool. I took a lot more, but didn't want to bore you.

After we left, they took us to an Irish Pub. Great time. Nice way  for Denny to spend his birthday-old cars and Guiness

TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN

Oct. 3rd -7th

On the recommendation of Lon, my 2nd cousin on my Mom's side, we went to Traverse City.  It gave us a small town feel of older homes on tree lined streets.  

We first went up the Old Mission Peninsula, it is only 11 miles long and about 1 mile wide.  Beautiful scenery. There were 8 wineries on the peninsula, we tried to go wine tasting, but didn't go into a single one. There must have been some event going on because every parking lot was full and we could see a line out the door to just pay for your wine tasting. We didn't want to wait so long because there are so many wineries to choose from, we just kept going. 

Views from the vineyards 

Quilt patterns were on alot of the old homes and barns. 

The next day we traveled to the other, larger   Leelaneau  Peninsula. There, we went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  My cousin, Lois, recommended them. We have been to several places that different cousins have said were worth seeing.   In 2011 it was voted the most beautiful place in America by  Travel magazine.  

Views of some of the Dunes.

We climbed up a small dune. If you can't tell by Denny being bundled up, it was so cold and the wind was blowing sideways.

As you can see, it is so windy there that the boardwalk is mostly covered with sand. We got sand in our hair, eyes and shoes.  I was bundled up alot more than he was. I had a hooded sweatshirt and my fleece jacket on. The hood was pulled tight around my face. 

The rest of the drive around the peninsula was beautiful.  There are 32 wineries here, but we only stopped at 3.  Ran out of time, we didn't get started very early and spent alot of time at the Dunes.  Very scenic drive on a nice day (except for the wind at the Dunes). 

MACKINAW BRIDGE/WORST TRAVELING DAY

Oct. 3rd

When we left St. Ignace to go south, it was pouring rain.  It is so miserable to hook up in the rain. I felt sorry for Denny. He does all the outside stuff and I do all the inside.  We had to go over the Mackinaw Bridge, the only way you can get from the Upper to the Lower part of Michigan.  It is a toll bridge.  The state has a good money maker there because, even if you live in Wisconsin, there is no way to get to the lower part of Michigan without paying the toll, unless you go all the way down from Wisconsin, thru Illinois and Indiana and up to Michigan.  It was built in 1957. For years, everyone thought you couldn't build it thru the straits.  It is 5 miles long.  We saw pictures of the ferry lines before the bridge was built. They were much longer than any lines on the Washington ferries in the height of summer. 

It was a little scary going over the bridge in pouring rain. The visibility was not even a half a mile. The only good thing is that there was no wind. Our RV is 12' high, so it is like a  sail in the wind, easy to topple over.  When there is a lot of wind, you are escorted over.

The bridge from a distance

Views from our truck as we were crossing

The rain continued the entire time we were driving. It was only 3 hrs, 15 min, but it felt like 8 just because of the stress of the weather. We were so glad to finally get to our new destination that we opened up a bottle of champagne to celebrate

Denny said this was the worst rain storm we have ever driven thru since we started in 2009.  We have been going thru all these northern states fairly fast  to beat the fall/winter weather, but it is starting to catch up to us.

MACKINAC ISLAND

Oct 1st

Today we went to Mackinac Island.  It is one of the must sees of Michigan.  It  does not allow carrs.  Back in the 1898, the carriage men were afraid that the "horseless carriages" would take away their trade. They passed a law that still stands today. You can use bicycles or walk.  It makes for a very unique experience of no exhaust fumes and  quaint village life.  We rented a horse drawn carriage to take us around the entire island.  Just walking along front street with all the t shirt shops doesn't give you  the island way of life.  It is the only state highway in Michigan that doesn't allow cars.  

View of island from ferry

Front street with our carriage

All of those buildings are original,  1800's era

Hotel built in 1887 to accommodate  so many visitors after the Civil War

Stopped at the Butterfly house. I took so many pictures, they were so beautiful. 

We went thru the State park. Only remaining arch. There was another one, but as workers were trying to reinforce it,  they accidentally blew it up.  Sounds like a little miscommunication!

Fort Mackinac was built in 1970 by the British.  Americans took it over in 1796. In the War of 1812, the British captured it again. In fact, the first battle of 1812 was here at the Fort.  It was a working fort until 1895. 

Gun Mounts

Bath House built in 1885. before that, it was considered unhealthy to take a bath. After it was built, the commandeer made sure everyone bathed once a week.  There are 6 individual rooms just wide enough for a bench and a claw foot bathtub.  

View of town from Fort

Shows all the bikes for rent or you can bring one along on the ferry. 

Another enjoyable day

SAULT SAINT MARIE

Sept 30th

Yesterday we traveled thru the UP of  Michigan to St. Ignace.  I'm talking like a native, UP is short for Upper Peninsula.  The only thing that connects the upper and lower parts of Michigan is a 5 mile long bridge ( more about that later).

The first day we  drove back 40 miles  to Sault St. Marie. Sault is pronounced  sue.  We went to see the SOO  Locks at the St. Mary's River.  St. Mary's River separates Ontario, Canada from the U.S.  It is the busiest lock system in the world. St Mary's river connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The difference of the 2 lakes is 21' hence the reason for the  locks. Over 11,000 ships pass thru the locks, varying from small, passenger boats to large 1000 ft ships,  containing  72,000 tons of freight in one load.  Most cargo ships contain iron ore, coal, grain or stone.  We took a cruise thru  the locks.

Beginning of the locks

Notice the water line, that is how far we have to up

You can see that it is almost full

 Locks opening up to Lake Superior levels

The bridge goes from the US (on left) to Canada

Steel plant on Canada side

Coming back, entering the Canadian locks

Locks closing to let water out

going down 21'

Back to Lake Huron levels

It was very interesting and we had a beautiful day.